Ice Age:Broken Hearts
by Obsidianhighlights
Summary: Shira is a female saber-tooth who was banished from her pack. She decides to join the herd in their adventures.Will Diego admit his feelings for her and will Shira speak of her past? Diego/Shira
1. Chapter 1:Meeting the herd

**Authors note: - I do not own any of the characters except from Shira. This is also my first story, so no rude comments please.**

Chapter 1:- Meeting the herd

She slowly walked through the forest, thinking to herself; _am I a monster?_ She peered round to take a glimpse of her, somewhat strange, white fur. Tears slowly filled her eyes. _Why did I have to have white fur? Everyone else in my family is normal coloured, so why me?_ Suddenly, the tigress heard a scream, and so she rushed over to see what all the fuss was about.

Diego was walking through the peaceful forest, when he heard a scream. _Sid, _he thought, then started running over to where the sound was coming from.

_"HELP!" Sid screamed. He had cowered up onto a branch of a tree, while a bear was at the bottom of the tree, jumping up, missing Sid by a hair.

"HELP!" he screamed again, he then saw a white figure tackle down the menacing bear, scratching its shocked face, which caused the bear to make a hasty retreat.

"Thank you, thank you!" Sid said, gleefully, and jumped out of the tree to greet his saviour. It was the white tigress.

"Don't mention it, just be care…wait? Why aren't you afraid of me?" The female said in a surprised tone.

"Why should I be?" the sloth said, shaking her paw. "I have another sabre-tooth in my herd. Oh, by the way, the names Sid."

Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, another tiger pounced onto her, pinning the helpless tigress to the floor.

Diego growled, "The sloth is off the menu. Now go back to your pack, or you will wish you had" She gasped, then Sid came running over.

"No, get off her! She saved me!" Sid shouted. Diego swiftly jumped off of the female and said "she did?" he said, confused

"YES!" Sid shouted. Diego's ears went back, and looked at the saber.

"Oh, right, sorry" and then walked away, embarrassed.

She looked at the sloth with a confused expression on her face.

"Oh, that's just Diego, ignore him, he's always like that. What's your name?" Sid asked.

"S-Shira" she said, still finding it hard to believe that the saber travelled with a sloth.

"Shira? That's a nice name. Hey, why don't you come and meet the rest of the herd? I am sure Ellie will love you." Sid was already walking in the direction of the herd.

Shira rolled her eyes. _There's more?_ She thought to herself, sighing, but followed the sloth anyway.

As they walked up to the herd, Shira froze in fear and shock. _He didn't mention mammoths, or possums. _The smaller, reddish furred mammoth was playing with the mammoth calf, who looked like her, but had her father's fur colour, assuming that the bigger, dark brown mammoth sitting next to the shemoth, smiling contently, was the calf's dad. The two possums looked like twins, as they both have a brown and white striped coat, except one had blue eyes, the other, had brown. They were throwing rocks at Sid. Sid yelped and ran behind her.

This made Shira giggle.

Just then the possums noticed her, and froze.

The blue eyed one wolf whistled at her.

The other one said "Why HELLOOOO, beautiful!" They both jumped in front of her.

"I'm crash!" The blue eyed possum said. He pointed at the other possum; "and this is Eddie!" Shira nodded, then looked at Sid.

"Well?" she said. Sid stared up at her.

"Well what?" Sid asked.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me to the others?" she replied, slightly annoyed.

"Oh yeah! Follow me!" and with that Sid walked towards the three mammoths.

"Hiya guys, Meet Shira! She saved me from a bear!" Sid exclaimed, pointing to the female saber walking up towards them. Manny pulled Peaches towards him and wrapped his trunk round her tiny body. The saber could take her down easily.

Shira could see the worried look on the mammoths face and said "Don't worry, I won't eat her, she's too cute!" Ellie stood up and walked towards Shira.

"Hi! My names Ellie, that's Manny," gesturing to him "and that's our darling daughter Peaches!" pointing to the little ball of fluff being cuddled by Manny. Shira smiled.

"So, where's you pack?" Ellie asked. Shira was surprised._ She was giving me a warm smile and being all nice, even though there already is a saber in the herd, I thought that she would be more stubborn and protective, especially since i'm a stranger to her and her calf is right behind her._

"Ummmm, I don't have a pack" Shira replied sadly.

"Well that's not a problem" Sid interrupted. Shira stared at him.

"Join our herd!" The saber looked at him, shocked; _I did not expect him to say that,_ she thought to herself.

"Yeah!" came a voice. It was Crash.

"Join us please!" Eddie pleaded. Shira looked at Ellie and Manny, and they both nodded.

"OK then." Shira said, smiling.

"YAY!" The possum brothers shouted, ran over to the saber and hugged her front legs.

"Can you two please get off?" Shira growled. Crash and Eddie immediately got off and jumped onto Ellie's back. Just then, Diego came back, his head down.

"What's wrong with you?" Manny asked.

"Nothing." Diego replied, and with that, he walked over and laid down next to the fire that Sid had made, placing his head onto his paws, and starting staring at Shira. Who was chatting to Ellie. _I feel guilty. She saves my friends life, and I go and pounce on her. Nice one Diego .He hated to admit it, but she looks really beautiful in the moonlight. _Shira saw him staring and smiled at him. Diego looked away, blushing, and fell asleep.

**That's the end of the first chapter, I know it's bad, but it's my first story. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2:The Shining Stars

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters apart from Shira (Her looks and personality only).**

Chapter 2: The shining stars

_(Shira's dream)_

(Shira as a cub.)

"Shira, come here my little snow gem" Shiras mother, Emily called.

"Coming mum!" Shira replied as she ran over to the cave where her mother was waiting.

Emily gave Shira a quick nuzzle and said "You are now old enough to be learning how to hunt, so I will bring you along with me and teach you."

"OK!" Shira replied excitedly; just then, they both heard a voice.

"Oh no she's not!" The voice said. It was Shiras father. Shira ran under her mum for protection.

"But Darren, Shira needs to know how to hunt!" Emily said to her, very strong, brown haired, brown eyed husband. He was bigger than most males, so Emily had to be very careful with what she says.

"She doesn't deserve to know how to hunt. She is a weak and odd cub, who has the curseful white hair. The only reason she is still in this pack is because you want to keep your 'precious little snow gem' as you love her and I don't want to lose you."

"Well you will if you carry on like this!" Emily snarled; but she almost immediately regretted it as she knew what was going to happen now.

"Please, don't." she whispered.

"It's too late now!" Darren roared, and with that he grabbed the poor defenceless cub and attacked her; biting and scratching at her.

Shira whimpered and tried to limp away, only for her father to brutally scratch her back right leg, and the cub fell to the ground, panting, bleeding. She saw her father's wicked face, then it all went black…

(_Dream ends)_

Shira jumped up, heart pounding. The nightmares had come back. She had got rid of them many times before, but they keep on coming back to haunt her.

She looked around, and saw Manny and Ellie cuddled together, with Peaches squashed in the middle; Sid was laying on a rock snoring outside and the possum brothers were sleeping above the sloth, their tails clinged onto the branch. Shira watched Diego, who was sleeping peacefully, for a moment before walking off into the forest, unknown to her that Diego had woken up and had started to follow her, quietly slinking through the bushes.

_I wonder where she's going._ Diego thought. He wanted to apologize for what he did yesterday, as he has been feeling guilty since it happened.

Shira continues through the forest, unaware of Diego's presence, and sees a rock surrounded by fir trees in a sort of circle, and the clear midnight sky directly above the rock. She walks up to the rock and lays down on it, staring up to the shining stars, thinking. She then started talking.

"Mum, I miss you; I wish that you could come back. You're the only one that accepted me for who I am. I promise I will avenge you. The saber who took you from me will pay…." She stopped when she heard a twig snap behind her.

_Crap._ He thought. Shira turned to the direction the sound came from, crouched, and silently yet gracefully pounced onto the opposing threat, pinning it to the ground. She looked into the sabers piercing green eyes, only then realizing it's just Diego. She growled lowly at him.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed.

"Let me get up and i'll tell you." Diego replied. Shira reluctantly got off him and sat down, staring at him. Diego did the same.

Wanting to break the awkward silence, Shira asked "Well, what are you doing here then, why were you following me?"

"Well…." Diego started "I just wanted to say sorry for what I did yesterday." Shira smirked.

"Yeah, it wasn't a nice way to treat a lady." She replied.

"I never did learn your name." Shira said.

"Diego." He replied. "Yours?"

"Shira" the tigress replied. She then turned around to lay back down on the rock, and went back to looking at the stars.

Diego, wanting to know more, asked "What happened to your pack then?" He heard Shira sigh and, not wanting to anger her, quickly said "but you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, its fine, i'll tell you." Shira replied. She didn't trust him enough to tell him the whole story, so she just told him a little bit.

"My father never liked me, as he wanted a boy, and my fur colour is very odd and strange, not to mention rare, and he used to constantly beat me up for it. I stayed because I loved my mother too much to leave, but then she was killed, so I left." She explained. Diego nodded, even though he knew that she had not told him the whole story.

"What happened to your pack then, Diego?" She asked, curious to know.

"My pack had sent me on a mission to retrieve the baby that Manny and Sid was taking home, so I went with them, leading them to Half Peak, where the rest of my pack was waiting to kill Manny and get revenge on the baby, but then Manny saved my life, and I had grown to close to him and Sid, so I teamed up with them, and left my pack, killing my leader, Soto in the progress." Diego said. Shira was listening at first, but about halfway through; she started staring up at the stars, completely ignoring Diego, and thinking.

Diego stared at her. _I swear I recognise her, _he thought, but shook it off and said "Come on Shira; let's go back to the herd." Shira did not move; she was lost in thought. Diego walked in front of her.

"Are you OK?" He asked, slightly concerned.

"Yes I'm fine. Let's go back now." She replied, and started walking back.

Diego was not convinced, but walked back with her all the same.

**That's it for chapter 2! I will update as soon as possible. Any ideas for the story will be appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3:Life and Death

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters except from Shira (Her Personality and looks only).**

Chapter 3:Life and Death

Walking back to the rest of the herd, Shira was fed up with the silence, so tried to strike up a conversation with Diego. Just as she was about to speak, Diego tripped over a rock, tumbled down the small hill and fell into the shallow river. He laid there, confused, his fur drenched, and looked up to see Shira sitting on top of the hill looking down at him highly amused and giggling. When Shira finally stopped laughing, she walked down to Diego and helped him up.

"Talk about graceful." Shira sniggered. She wasn't smiling for long, as Diego shook himself; he got Shira covered in water.

"I thought you might enjoy some refreshing water as well." Diego smirked. Shira growled then chased Diego up the other side of the river and eventually caught him and pinned him to the floor.

"I'm sorry to disappoint, but I wasn't thirsty." Shira said.

"Awww, that's too bad." Diego replied. They then both stared into each other's eyes. _She has beautiful eyes, _Diego thought. _He has gorgeous eyes,_ Shira thought. After what seemed like a while the both looked away, blushing. Shira let Diego up.

"Come on, the others are probably worrying by now." Shira said. It was early morning by now, so no doubt Manny would be getting ready to head off someplace else.

But, when they got back, everyone was still asleep. Everyone, that is, except from one member.

Diego crept up to where Manny and Ellie were sleeping. Realization struck him.

"Where's Peaches?" Diego panicked a little, turning to Shira.

"I don't know, do I?" Shira replied anxiously. Even though she hasn't been with the herd long, she has found herself growing close to little Peaches.

Diego and Shira had a quick look round just in case she was hiding.

"Nothing." Diego said, stating the obvious.

"Really?" Shira said sarcastically.

"Let's wake up the others." Diego whispered.

"Good call." Shira answered back. Diego was walking towards Manny. Shira sighed.

"EVERYONE WAKE UP!" Shira shouted. Everyone groaned.

"What's the problem?" Manny mumbled.

"Peaches has gone missing." Diego said. Manny and Ellie jumped up.

"OH MY GOD!" Ellie screamed panicking. Sid, Crash and Eddie started running off to search.

"We've got this!" Eddie called. Shira ran and jumped in front of the three.

"No." Shira said calmly. "Me, Manny and Ellie will go and look for Peaches in the forest. The rest of you stay here."

"Why do I have to stay here?" Diego muttered. Shira gave him a look.

"So that you can keep these three under control." Shira stated. "Come on let's move!" Not being needed to be told twice, Manny and Ellie raced into the forest, with Shira following close behind.

"Uncy Dee-ego?" A little voice called out. "Sheera? Where are ywou?" It was Peaches, wondering around the colossal forest, alone and frightened.

Out of nowhere, a pack of wolves jumped out in front of the mammoth calf. They were all different shades of grey apart from the biggest one; he was auburn.

"So, where do you think you are going?" The smallest wolf said, stepping closer to the frightened Peaches.

"Awww, she's so cute, it's a shame were going to eat her." The silver coloured one said.

"Yes, it is a shame, Karl. A shame that she won't be around to enjoy the meal with us!" The biggest wolf laughed harshly. Then they all started closing in on Peaches, all 5 of them. Peaches screamed, and backed into a tree.

"Peek-a-boo." The auburn furred leader said. Just then, a white figure leaped out of the bushes and landed between Peaches and the wolves. It was Shira.

"Sheera!" Peaches exclaimed. Shira growled at the wolves, getting into a pouncing position.

"Get back, Peaches!" Shira said. Peaches, for once, did what she was told. Shira pounced onto Karl, knocking him back into the smallest one and the other two wolves, then the leader of the pack attacked her, biting the tigress and showing no mercy.

Shira scratched his face, which made him whimper. Forgetting about the mammoth calf, the whole pack clinged onto Shira, digging their claws into her, attacking her with no signs of stopping. Then Karl smashed into Shira, bashing her into a tree, head first. Shira collapsed at the bottom of the tree, unconscious.

_**(Shira's Flashback when knocked unconscious)**_

"_SHIRA! HOW COULD YOU?" Darren roared_

"_But, I didn't do anything..." Shira whimpered. Her father was staring at her, scowling, the rest of the pack behind him._

"_DON'T LIE TO ME!" He bellowed. _

"_I'm not lying!" Shira shouted back, tears rolling down her cheeks. "It was that stupid green eyed tigers fault!" After she said that Darren scratched her face, sending her flying back._

"_You are BANISHED from this pack, Shira! I told your mother that you fur colour was bad luck, but she never listened to me and now she's dead because YOU killed her!" Darren's words were harsh and dark, and they stabbed through Shira's heart like a dagger._

"_But..." _

"_GO NOW, AND NEVER RETURN!" Darren bellowed. Shira, bleeding and shaking, ran away as fast as her legs could take her._

_After a while, she collapsed, crying._

_**(Flashback ends)**_

"Sheera. Sheera, wake uwp. Sheera, pwease wake uwp!" Peaches was gently shaking Shira.

Shira opened her eyes, and she saw Peaches standing above her, tears in her big bright green eyes, but she smiled now that Shira was awake. Manny, Ellie and Peaches all had a happy cuddle just before Shira woke up as they had been reunited, but now they were all focused on Shira.

"Sheera, are ywou owkay?" Peaches asked. Shira didn't answer.

Peaches gestured to Manny and Ellie and they both came over and looked down sadly at their friends weak, battered and bruised body; she was also lying in a small scarlet pool of blood.

"Manny," Ellie whispered, "Can you gently lift Shira and place her on my back?" Manny nodded and, using his trunk, delicately picked up Shira and placed her onto Ellie's back.

"Th-thanks." Shira managed to whisper, and they started heading back to Crash, Eddie, Sid and Diego.

Crash and Eddie were pacing, pacing really fast, they just couldn't calm down.

"What if something's happened to Peaches?" Eddie worried.

"What if something's happened to our beautiful Shira?" Crash fretted, and the brothers hugged each other, crying.

"Will you two please shut up?" Diego half-shouted. Sid and the possums looked at him in shock.

"Ignore him; he's irritated because something might happen to his girlfriend." Sid smirked. Diego gave Sid a stern look, but the sloth ignored him and carried on anyway.

"You love her, don't you Diego?" Sid said.

"No! What gives you that idea?" Diego quickly said.

"Well," Sid began "I saw you staring at her last night, and I was awake when you got up and followed her." Diego was fed up with Sid, so he roared and started chasing him. Sid started screaming and Crash and Eddie was sitting up in a nearby tree in stitches.

The laughing didn't last long, as just after Manny, Ellie and Peaches appeared out from the bushes, all three had distraught faces.

Crash, Eddie, Sid and Diego ran over.

"What's happened?" Crash asked.

"Are you OK?" Eddie asked.

"You found Peaches!" Sid exclaimed, completely forgetting about Shira as he waddled over as fast as he could and gave Peaches a hug. Diego stared at the sloth and rolled his eyes, then looked back at Manny and Ellie.

"Where's Shira?" Diego questioned, concerned.

Manny looked at him; he looked sorry for his friend. He then reached up to Ellie's back, wrapped his trunk softly around Shira, and quietly placed her on the ground. Everyone gasped. Diego froze, a shocked expression locked on his face; he was devastated. Sid took one look at her blood stained body and fainted. Crash and Eddie's jaws dropped, and they just stared at their beautiful tigress, speechless.

Diego was about to cry when he realized that she was breathing faintly. He walked up to her, and nuzzled her face.

"Please, speak." He pleaded. Silence cut the air like a knife.

"There was a pack of wolves." Ellie started, a tear rolling down her cheek. "They were about to kill Peaches, when Shira came and tried to fight them all of, only to be mortally wounded, but me and Manny found them just in time to send the wolves packing. She saved our little girl." Now Ellie was crying her heart out, she couldn't be more thankful to Shira; Manny knew what she was thinking and comforted her.

Shira still hasn't got up, her every breath getting fainter. Diego licked her cheek.

"Please wake up, I need you." Now even Diego was letting out sobs, which left the rest of the herd stunned. Diego has never cried in front of them before.

He was now desperate. He nuzzled her cheek again. Shira was on the brink of death.

A single tear rolled down Diego's cheek.

**That's the end of chapter 3! Will Shira survive? Keep checking for the next chapter, but I assure you that it will be either tomorrow or Wednesday. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4:Heart Broken

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters except from Shira (Her Personality and looks only).**

Chapter 4:Heart Broken

_I opened my eyes, everything was fuzzy. My whole body felt numb from pain and shock. I was too weak to move and I couldn't even remember what happened…_

_When my vision became clear, I could see Diego standing above me, his eyes red and tears staining his cheeks._

"Diego?" Shira whispered. Diego nodded. He then heard her chuckle softly, and looked down at her confused.

"I thought you were the tough guy." Shira said, slowly gaining some strength back. The herd cheered.

Diego then gently helped Shira to stand up, her sleek yet battered body relying heavily on his, but she was up on all fours.

Shira smiled up at Manny and Ellie, but frowned again and turned to Diego. "What happened?" She asked. Diego nodded towards Ellie. Shira looked back up at her friend.

"You saved our Peaches," She said, fighting back tears, "Thank you so much. You were attacked by wolves when defending Peaches, but they were too strong and knocked you back into a tree, after terribly injuring you" Ellie said.

"Yeah thank you so much." Manny piped in, actually smiling.

"No problem." Shira smiled. "Peaches has been growing on me a lot since I joined, she is just the cutest thing I've ever seen!" Just then, Crash and Eddie came rushing up to her, jumping on Shira, causing her to fall onto her back, as she was still very weak. Shira laughed and showed no intent on getting up of chucking the possums off her.

"I am sooooo glad that you are OK, my gorgeous Shira." Crash said, beaming, his smile going from ear to ear. Eddie frowned at his brother.

"Excuse me, she is MY gorgeous saber!" Eddie said.

"She's MINE"

"No, MINE" and the possum brothers started fighting each other to see who gets the saber. Shira watched them in amusement, and, still on her back, started laughing again. Diego then growled softly at Crash and Eddie; he hated them calling her gorgeous and beautiful, it made Diego jealous.

Shira had heard Diego growl and said "Not jealous are you, Diego?"

Diego suddenly turned red and quickly looked down, truly embarrassed, but Shira had seen his rose coloured face and giggled. She then rolled over onto her stomach, still unable to get up without support.

After Peaches had managed to wake Sid up, she ran over to Shira and gently hugged her using her trunk. Shira looked at the mammoth calf, a warm smile on her face.

"Thwank Ywou fwor saving mwe, awnte sheera" Peaches said. The fact that she had called Shira auntie touched everyone's hearts, especially Shiras; but the possums, who were still wrestling each other, did not hear a word.

"It's OK, sweetie." Shira replied, still smiling. It was now Ellie's and Manny's turn. Peaches let go of Shira and took a step back.

"We all thought that you weren't going to make it, Shira. I am so happy that you are alive." Ellie said, gently giving the saber a quick cuddle. Manny nodded in agreement and touched her shoulder in appreciation.

Sid walked over to Shira and looked at her, disgusted.

I am glad that you are OK, but you look horrible!" Sis said. Shira scowled at him.

"SID!" The rest of the herd shouted at him. Sid looked at them in confusion and annoyance.

"What?" Sid asked, but he was ignored. Diego then walked over to Shira and helped her up again.

"Let's go to the lake so that you can wash your wounds and clean your fur." Shira nodded and the two set of towards the lake nearby. Sid was about to follow them, but Ellie stopped him.

"Leave them alone, Sid." Ellie said. Sid sighed but did as he was told and walked over to Peaches.

Diego and Shira were not that far away from the lake, Shira still heavily leaning on Diego, but he didn't mind, not one bit.

"I think I can walk from here." Shira said, and stared walking forwards, only to collapse again after just a few steps. She sighed in frustration. Diego chuckled and helped her get up again as they continued towards the lake and into the shallow water. Shira then limped over into the not-so-shallow water that she could still stand up in, and dunked her whole body under the water. Diego gasped.

"Shira?" Diego said in a worried tone. Just then Shira rose back up above the water, nearly all of the dried blood removed from her snowy coloured fur.

Shira staggered out of the water and went over to sit on a nearby rock overlooking the gleaming lake. When she got onto the rock she collapsed again, but moved into a comfortable position and started licking her wounds. The worst one was the three deep cuts running along the side of her body, from when the leader of the wolf pack tried to jump on her and missed, claws scarring the left side of her agile body. As she licked it she whimpered, she was still in unbearable pain.

Diego sat next to the lake and watched Shira lick her wounds, when he notices a scar running down her back right leg. He knew that she didn't get that in the fight with the wolves, as the scar was not red like her other scratches were, and he was determined to find out how she got it.

When Shira had finished licking her wounds, Diego casually walked up and laid down beside her.

"What am I going to do? I can't hunt for at least two weeks" Shira whispered sadly to Diego. Diego gave her a compassionate look, before speaking.

"I'll hunt for you and bring you back food." Diego said. Shira instantly perked up.

"Would you really to that for me Diego?" Shira asked, a smile on her face. Diego nodded.

"Sure, anything for you." He replied. Just then he suddenly realized what he said and looked away. Shira was completely unfazed by what Diego had just said.

"Thank you." Shira said and nuzzled Diego on his cheek. Diego froze, his cheek burning and he turned scarlet. When his cheeks returned to their normal colour he nuzzled her back.

"HA I knew you liked her!" a familiar voice shouted. It was Sid. Shira shot him a look, while Diego scowled at him. Sid started walking towards the sabers.

"It's about time you two got together!" Sid said. Diego jumped up and started walking towards the sloth.

"We are not together!" Diego whispered. Sid ignored him.

"Sure you aren't!" Sid smirked. This made Diego really angry.

"WE ARE NOT TOGETHER! WE WILL NEVER BE TOGETHER!" Diego lashed out at Sid. Sid looked at him angrily and nodded towards Shira; who looked heart broken.

Shira felt a sharp pain in her heart. She was trying her best to hold back the tears. Diego looked at her, regretting what he said deeply. He wants to be with her. He loves her; and now he has ruined it.

Shira got up and limped away as fast as her legs could take her.

"Shira…" Diego started.

"Leave me alone." Shira said sharply, her voice cracking. Shira walked deeper into the forest not caring where she would end up, tears were already filling her eyes. She loved Diego; she still does even though he just broke her heart. She wanted to be with him so badly, but now there was just no point.

"Way to go, tiger" Sid said, disappointed in his friend. Diego looked at him and ran off in a desperate attempt to find Shira.

_(Back with the rest of the herd)_

Crash and Eddie finally stopped fighting. Well, Ellie stopped them anyway, and they were resting in a nearby tree.

"I wonder what Shira and Diego are doing." Crash smirked and looked at his brother.

"I know!" Eddie replied smiling. He started making kissing noises. Crash laughed and started making kissing noises as well.

"Stop it!" Ellie snapped. The brothers silenced immediately. If they had learned anything, it was not to make Ellie angry.

Just then Sid tried to sneak back into the herd, but Ellie spotted him.

"Where were you?" Ellie asked. Sid gulped.

"You were spying on Diego and Shira, weren't you?" Ellie said, getting frustrated.

"Well, not exactly." Sid said, still panting from running all the way back. "There's a slight problem." Sid explained everything. Ellie gasped.

"Oh dear." Ellie said. Ellie looked at Crash and Eddie.

"Don't worry Ellie, we will find Shira." Crash said, and they both ran off to search for the tigress.

**That's all for chapter 4! Who will find Shira first? I will update as soon as I can! :)**


	5. Chapter 5:Accidents Happen

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters. **

Chapter 5:Accidents Happen

Crash and Eddie were jumping from tree to tree as fast as their little legs could take them.

"Gosh I hope we find her before Diego." Crash said, slightly panicking as they had been searching for a good half an hour now.

"Same here." Eddie replied. Just then, the brothers heard a faint sobbing noise. They both looked at each other.

"Shira" They both said simultaneously and then started racing to the direction of the noise.

In a cave in the middle of the forest, Shira was laying down, sobbing. _Why did I have to like him? I'm such an idiot. I can't believe I thought that love at first sight was real!_ All of this ran through her head, and soon she found herself falling into a light sleep…

_(Dream)_

Shira had just become an adult, and her mum was giving the tigress her last ever hunting lesson. They were out in the middle of a grassy open plain, where Shira had successfully caught and killed a full grown antelope.

"I am so proud of you! My little Shira, all grown up!" Emily said, tears filling her eyes.

"No need for the waterworks, Mum. You haven't eaten in a couple of days. Come and share my meal with me." Shira said, as a smile crept up onto her face. Emily nodded in appreciation and they both started munching away.

When they had finished, they both got up satisfied and started heading back. Everything that happened next was a blur. Another saber, clearly not from Shira's pack jumped on Emily and started attacking her. Emily panicked and tried to get the saber off but to no avail. Shira was too shocked and scared to go and help. The next thing she knew, the saber, who had unique green eyes, stared at her for a couple of seconds and ran off, leaving Emily's limp body behind.

Shira walked up to her mother's body and nuzzled her face. Emily's body was cold and lifeless; she was gone. Shira then started crying, burying her head into Emily's corpse.

She was there for hours, until she needed to go back to the pack. She needed to stop mourning and move on. She walked back slowly, head looking towards the ground, her tail between her legs and her ears back.

It was over.

_(Dream ends)_

"WAKE UP!"

"NOW!"

Shira groaned and looked around. It was none other than Crash and Eddie. Crash was jumping on her shoulder, shouting directly into her ear, which made her ear twitch. Eddie was standing in front of her waving his hands shouting.

"OK. OK I'm up." Shira moaned.

"Why are you here?" Even though she could probably already guess. _Sid._

"We were worried for you and came looking for you." Crash replied, generally looking worried. Shira raised her eyebrow.

"Ok…" Eddie confessed. "We were worried about you but Ellie made us come out to look for you." Shira smiled, pleased that they were honest with her. Her face suddenly turned into a worried and scared look.

"Don't let him near me…" She whispered, backing down a little. The twins looked at her and nodded, before jumping onto her back and patting her shoulders.

"Don't worry, we won't." Crash said soothingly.

"Ellie is worried about you." Eddie said. Shira's ears went back.

"Ummmm, can you Eddie go and gat Ellie and Crash you stay her with me." Shira said. Eddie groaned, but did as he was told anyway. Crash felt a little smirk crawl onto his face. He was glad that Shira had picked him to stay, even if she did choose randomly.

Diego had been walking through the forest looking for Shira for over an hour now. And over that space of time he has been growing more worried and concerned for her.

"I wish that I had never of said that." He muttered to himself sadly. "If she is hurt I will never forgive myself."

He looked around and spotted a cave and started walking towards it. _I wonder if she might be in there,_ He thought.

Diego then slowly walked into the cave. His jaw dropped. Nothing had prepared him for what he was looking at. He felt anger and jealously bubbling up inside his chest.

There Shira was, resting, and Crash was lying next to her stomach snuggled up in her fur resting lightly as well. Little did Diego know that the only reason they were like that was because it was chilly inside the cave.

Diego slowly walked over to the pair and picked up Crash by his tail. He then started violently shaking the possum to wake him up. Crash opened one eye, to see Diego holding him upside down, growling at him.

"SHIRA!" Crash screamed. Diego brought the frightened Crash towards his face. He glared daggers at him before speaking.

"Stay, Away, From, Shira, or you will not live to see your brother again. Do you understand me?" Diego snarled. Crash gulped and nodded, shaking.

Just then Shira opened her eyes to see Crash squirming and Diego holding his tail and snarling at him. Shira was shocked. She then got up, growling lowly at Diego, before scratching him which caused Diego to whimper and drop Crash. Shira picked Crash up and placed him on her back.

Shira then started backing up and hissing at Diego.

He just stood there, he only got a graze from Shira starched him and it wasn't bleeding. Diego looked at her worryingly, which turned into a horrible menacing look. Shira recognised his face from her dream. Her dreams are always just her past though. Shira doesn't ever dream, they are all merely flashbacks.

She then noticed that Diego was walking up to her. Shira backed up only to trip over a rock and fly backwards, scratching the side of her face on a sharp rock. Crash had jumped off her when she tripped and sat there, as his jaw hit floor.

Diego looked at her sadly and continued walking up to her, forcing Shira to back up again. Diego felt something wet on his paw. He looked down to see her blood all over the bottom of his paw.

Ellie and Eddie suddenly came charging in, before stopping in horror. They both gasped, looking at Diego's paw and Shira's face, one side covered in blood and a puddle of blood directly beneath the scratch.

Ellie ran up to Shira.  
>"What did he do to you?" Ellie screamed. Shira looked at her pleadingly and weakly before fainting, because of all the blood. It was still pouring from her face.<p>

Ellie scowled at Diego before whacking him on the head with her trunk. Hard. Crash and Eddie ran over to Shira to try to wake her up.

Ellie could not contain her anger.

"HOW COULD YOU?"She shouted.

"WHAT HAD SHE EVER DONE TO YOU, HUH?" Diego opened his mouth to speak but Ellie wasn't finished.

"DID YOU KNOW THAT SHE LIKED YOU? ALOT? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS DIEGO? THIS IS NOT LIKE YOU!" Her strained voice started to wobble.

Diego looked up at her, teary eyed. He wasn't going to deny it. Even though he didn't scratch her, he was the one that caused her to trip; he knew that she was scared of him.

Crash and Eddie started assaulting Diego with stones, but Ellie didn't stop them. She knew he deserved it. He knew that he deserved it.

Ellie picked up the still fainted Shira with her trunk, and started walking out, the possums close behind.

Diego sat down, feeling even guiltier.

He knew that she was scared of him.

He knew why.

**That's it for chapter 5, I hope you liked it! Wow I love writing this story, and I am grateful to all of the people who have read my story so far. I will update within the week!**


	6. Chapter 6:Truth

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters.**

Chapter 6:Truth

Crash, Eddie and Ellie are walking back to the rest of the herd. Ellie is carrying Shira with her trunk. The trio heard her groan.

"Wow, I can't believe I fainted over a little bit of blood!" She muttered to herself, though she said it loud enough for the rest to hear.

"A little bit of blood?" Ellie said.

"Love, you have left a massive pool of blood from where it was pouring out of your face!"

"Your face looks sore." Eddie said, walking up to her.

"Understatement." She said.

"Ellie can you please put me down, I'm fine. I also want to walk." Ellie thought it was a bad idea as she was still dizzy, but obeyed and placed her onto the rocky terrain.

"So, Crash." Shira started. Crash gulped.

"How did I get this scratch in the first place?" She asked, acting dumb. She did know but wanted to hear what Crash was going to say.

"Diego...ummm… walked up to you and scratched your face and you went flying back." Crash said nervously. He could tell that Shira knew that he was lying, but didn't say anything.

"I wonder why Diego did that, I mean, what have I done wrong?" Shira wondered, turning to Ellie. Ellie shrugged.

"I don't know, but I will find out one way or another." She said.

There was an awkward silence. Eddie hated these, so he spoke.

"Look, we are nearly back!" He said, pointing towards the open space with a cave behind it and a burnt out fire in the middle of it all.

Shira walked over to her spot, which is on the right hand side of the cave entrance, and sat down, gently padding her fresh wound.

Ellie came over to her with a couple of leaves and an empty tortoise shell filled with water. Shira looked at Ellie confused.

"Oh." Ellie said, seeing her confused look. "I'm just going to clean your cut, so that it doesn't get infected." Shira smiled gratefully at Ellie.

"Thank you Ellie." Shira said. Ellie nodded, then dipped a leaf into the water and dabbed it onto Shira's face. Shira sat there contently and continued to let Ellie clean her scratch. She enjoyed the feeling of cold water being splashed onto her face, as it calmed her.

Diego was still in the cave, still lying on the same spot, still thinking._ I hope that I don't get kicked out of the herd. I hope that Shira's OK. I hope that the sloths been eaten by a bear._ This made Diego chuckle slightly to himself. He then started licking his paw in an attempt to get all of the blood out of his fur.

"OK. Steady; steady; BINGO!" Eddie shouted as he and his brother had just successfully set Sid's tail on fire while the sloth was snoozing in an uncomfortable position.

Sid then suddenly stirred, he got up. His tail was strangely hot. It then clicked. Sid started running around screaming. Shira is watching amused from a safe distance then she started laughing uncontrollably.

Her laugh must have been contagious because soon the whole herd was in tears. Everyone except Sid, who had managed to put the fire on his tail out and was standing in front of the mammoths frowning.

Ellie coughs awkwardly.

"Crash, Eddie, say sorry to Sid now!" Ellie had her stern face on, but even she was trying not to giggle.

"OK. Sid, we are sorry." Crash apologized, smirking at his brother to tell him that he was lying.

Manny's tummy decided to rumble at that time which made everyone look at him. He blushed.

"Let's go and find dinner." He said. Ellie, Peaches, Sid, Crash and Eddie all nodded and walked off with him into the forest. Shira stayed alone, which was a good thing as it gave her time to think about what happened.

_I hope that Diego's OK. I feel bad about letting him take the blame for me being clumsy and tripping over, but I was scared and angry. I knew that I had seen him before. He was the one that killed my mum. I said that I would avenge my mum, but thinking about it, my mum would not want me to do that. Also, I still have a __tiny__ crush on him._

Shira then got up and walked into the forest, heading back towards the cave.

_Time to set things straight,_ she thought.

Elsewhere, Manny, Ellie and Peaches are chewing on the berries that they had found in a bush.

"So" Ellie started, swallowing the food that she was eating "What do you think has got into Diego lately, I mean, shouting at Shira, scratching her, it's not like him."

"I agree." Manny nodded, finally realizing how serious the situation really was.

"I wonder what has set him off." Manny wondered. The mammoths fell silent for a couple of seconds, which would have lasted longer if a certain sloth hadn't got in the way.

"I know why." Sid said, munching on a stick.

"It's because Diego's in looove." Sid stated, emphasizing the 'love' a bit too much.

"I agree." Peaches chirped in, which left Manny, Ellie, and even Sid stunned.

"Maybe…" Manny trailed off.

"Hmmm, but he did attack her." Ellie replied. The other three nodded in agreement, none of them realizing that Crash and Eddie were spying on them. Crash, feeling really guilty, climbed out of the tree and onto Ellie's tusks, with his brother following closely behind.

"Uhhhh, guys, Ellie, I have something to confess." Crash said, looking down. They all looked at him strangely.

"What did you do Crash?" Ellie said sternly, giving him 'the look'. Crash gulped.

"I didn't do anything, it's just…..Diego didn't hurt Shira." Crash blurted. Ellie gasped.

"Then how did she…" Ellie started, only to be interrupted by Crash.

"Diego was walking up to her, and she was scared of him, so she backed up, tripped and scraped her face on a sharp rock." Eddie said. It was now everyone's turn to gasp. Ellie glared at him.

"Crash, you know that it is horrible to lie!" Ellie fumed. She immediately felt guilty for whacking and shouting at Diego, but didn't show it.

Back at the cave, Diego still hasn't moved. He was, instead of thinking, staring at the pool of blood further into the cave.

"I know it was you." He heard a voice whisper. Alerted, he jumped up and turned around, but relaxed a little after realizing it was only Shira.

"I know it was you who killed my mum." Shira said, walking forwards. Diego looked at her sadly.

"Yes, it was me." He whispered.

Shira walked over and stood in front of him, so that they were face to face. She looked into his eye, before carrying on.

"I felt really angry when I realized it was you, Diego. It was your fault that I got kicked out of my pack. You killed the only saber that loved me. I admit I feel a little bit guilty for letting the others think that you hurt me, but it is nothing compared with what you've done to me. Why Diego? I want answers now!"She said, as calmly as she could manage.

"Ok, you deserve to know." Diego sighed.

"My pack n your pack were enemies. My leader was called Soto and your leader was called Darren. Soto wanted revenge on your for killing half of my old pack, so he forced me to kill you as you were the alpha's daughter, otherwise I would of been shunned and killed." Shira stopped him there.

"So then why didn't you kill me instead?" Shira asked him, getting slightly agitated.

"My mum deserved to live, I didn't." Diego looked down.

"Because…..Because I thought that you were too pretty, and I didn't have the heart to kill a pretty saber like you, so I went for your mum instead. I told my pack it was you I killed and they believed me." Diego felt his face instantly flush red. 

Shira looked at him sadly. No matter how bad the situation was, she felt touched by what he had just said.

"I am truly sorry, I really am. I regretted it as soon as I killed her. I'm so sorry." Diego could not believe that those words had just come out of his mouth. Sabers never apologized. Shira sat there in silence for a while.

"…..it's…..OK." She gulped, fighting back tears. Diego stared at her, stunned. He didn't expect her to even consider accepting his apology.

"It is the past, and, now that I've got it out of the way, I can finally move on, as it's been bothering me for so long. And I now have finally been accepted by someone and the herd are now my friends. You are my friend Diego, no matter what." Shira said. She walked closer to Diego and slightly nuzzled him. Diego froze, speechless. He then snapped out of his trance and nuzzled her a little back.

The rest of the herd had finished eating and were just arriving at their cave, when Ellie gasped loudly. She looked around franticly.

"Where's Shira?" Ellie panicked. Peaches looked around before crying.

"What hwas Uncy Dee-ego done two Awntee Sheera?" Peaches screamed, really worried. She had only just sort of learned how to say 'auntie' since she was only ever used to saying 'uncle'.

Manny picked up he daughter and cuddled her.

"Don't worry, Diego isn't that twisted." Manny reassured them.

Just then, as if on cue, Diego and Shira walked through the bushes side by side, and laid down in their spots, as if none of the day's events had happened.

The rest of the herd let out a sigh of relief for knowing that Diego harmed Shira and that they have made up. But Peaches still had a worried look in her eyes. Shira spotted this, so she got up and walked over to the little mammoth calf.

Shira, claws retracted, gently stroked Peaches head, before saying "Don't worry, me and Diego are both fine." Shira then gave Peaches a warm smile, and she returned it.

Shira turned and smirked at Diego, before turning back and whispering into Peaches ear "Your uncle Diego is such a softie and a pushover."

Peaches giggled, then ran over to Ellie, who was walking into the cave with Manny to sleep.

"What did you say to her?" Diego asked.

"It's our little secret." Shira answered simply, winking at Peaches.

Peaches winked back.

They all settled down and fell fast asleep.

Tomorrow was a busy day.

**That's all for chapter 6! Wow I'm truly amazed by how many views my story had had! Now that it's all out in the open, I am now going to start writing over a day for each chapter, not just a couple of hours. Chapter 7 will be up soon!**


	7. Chapter 7:Migration

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters.** **I would like to also thank you all for reading my story, as it hit 1000 views recently!**

Chapter 7:Migration

Manny slowly opened his eyes to the morning light. He looked around to see that everyone else was still asleep. The mammoth quietly got up and walked to the cave entrance, when he heard a yawn.

Diego let a little roar escape and stretched. He looked up at his mammoth friend. Manny smiled at Diego, and he returned it.

"So, where are we going, exactly Manny?" Diego asked, remembering what he said last night.

"It's time to head south. I thought that you would have known." Manny replied. Diego felt like face palming himself.

"Of course, how could I forget?" He said. He turned and looked at Shira, who was stilly fast asleep. Diego smiled to himself.

"Well, you've had other things on your mind." Manny smirked. Diego turned back around and gave Manny one of his 'I have no idea what you are talking about but I know you are trying to annoy me' looks.

Manny couldn't help but chuckle. He then disguised it as coughing as Diego gave him his stern look.

"I'm going hunting." Diego said, and walked out of the cave.

"OK." Manny called after him. He then suddenly heard a 'thud' on the ground and spun around. It was just Sid falling off his rock, waking him up.

Manny groaned. Sid let out a massive yawn and waddled over to Manny, rubbing his eyes.

"Morning Manny!" Sid exclaimed, in his forever lasting cheerful voice.

"Morning." Manny grumbled._ Out of the entire herd to wake up and who eats plants, it had to be Sid!_ Manny thought to himself.

Sid went to look at Diego and mock and annoy him, but he wasn't there.

"Where's Diego?" Sid asked.

"Out hunting." Manny replied.

Sid sighed and turned to Shira.

"He loves her doesn't he?" Sid said.

"Yep"

"And if I say anything about it to him he would kill me."

"Yep"

"Do you want to go and get breakfast?"

"Yep." And with that, Manny and Sid strolled off in search of food.

_(30 minutes later)_

Shira yawned and opened her eyes. She jumped at the sight of a dead antelope lying near her.

"I said I'd hunt for you." A voice said.

She knew who it was and smiled up at Diego before eating.

When Shira had finished eating she got up.

"Where is everybody else?" She asked.

"They have all gone out to find something to eat." He replied.

"Later today we are migrating south." Diego informed her.

Shira raised her eyebrow at him.

"How interesting." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Shira then started wondering into the forest. It was Diego's turn to raise the eyebrow.

"And where exactly are you going?" Diego said, following her.

All Shira did was turn her head and smirk at him and continued walking off though the masses of thick, dense bushes.

Diego carried on following her.

_(An hour later)_

Shira was still walking, completely aware that Diego was close behind.

They came across a plain empty field, with a single dandelion growing near a thicket of trees on the edge.

Shira walked over to the dandelion and lay down beside it.

Diego walked up and saw the flower. He had no idea what was going on or why they were even there.

Shira closed her eyes and started thinking about her mum, the cuddles they shared, the talks they had, the hunting lessons she gave her….

The tigress knew that she wouldn't be there to plant another flower as they were going to head south, she would forget where her mother died. The dandelion would be long gone by the time they came back.

Tears started rolling down her cheeks.

Diego was still standing there, confused. He looked down at Shira and saw that she was sobbing; it then clicked.

Gently, Diego placed his paw onto Shira's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. After a couple of silent seconds Shira stood up and looked at Diego.

"We should go back." Shira said. Diego nodded and the two started heading back.

_(1 hour later)_

Back at the den everyone was waiting patiently for the two sabers to return.

"They better hurry up." Manny mumbled. Just then Diego and Shira both walked through the bushes. Ellie chuckled.

"You have super powers!" Ellie giggled. Diego and Shira looked at each other confused, before looking up to Manny.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault we are late. I had to do something important." Shira said.

"What did you have to do?" Manny asked, in a harsh tone. Shira looked down and took a deep breath.

"I had to say goodbye to my mother's grave." She said, her voice wobbling. Ellie whacked Manny on the back of his head. Manny gulped.

"I…I'm…so…sorry." He stuttered.

"It's OK, you didn't know." Shira replied, still looking down. Diego guessed that she was crying and tried to comfort her, but Shira just walked away. Diego frowned.

"Come on then!" Ellie started, "Let's start heading south!"

They all then started walking.

_(2 hours later)_

The odd herd are still walking.

Diego is at the front with Manny and Peaches close behind.

Crash and Eddie are pestering a grumpy Sid who is constantly complaining.

At the back Ellie and Shira are talking.

"So, Shira. Do you like Diego?" Ellie asked the unsuspecting saber tooth. Shira stared at her for a minute before replying.

"No I do not. We are just friends."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Ellie sighed in defeat.

"Fine." Ellie replied. But, deep down, Ellie knew that Shira liked him.

Sid decided to annoy Diego, so he ran up to the saber singing love songs. Manny sighed.

"Shut up Sid." Diego said coolly.

"You do like her don't you?" Sid said.

"No I don't."

"I know you do."

"Sid, bad idea." Manny said, while Peaches giggled.

"Sid, I do not!" Diego growled. Despite the warnings, Sid carried on.

"Admit it!"

"Really bad idea Sid…."

Diego was fed up so he bonked Sid on the head knocking him to the ground. Peaches ended up in fits of laughter and even Manny chuckled slightly.

It made Diego feel better too. He grinned at the sloth.

Sid stood up dizzily and started walking in random directions, looking stunned.

"I told you." Manny smirked. Sid scowled at Manny and Diego before turning his attention to Peaches, playing with her.

Ellie walked over to Manny, locked trunks with him and then started talking.

Crash and Eddie were planning their next prank on Sid when Crash realized something.

"Guys…WE ARE WALKING ON A FROZEN LAKE!" Crash yelled.

Shira, Manny, Ellie, Eddie, Diego, Sid and Peaches all gasped and started running.

Suddenly the ice started to crack and fall apart.

Everybody made it safely to the other side, except from Crash and Eddie, who were panicking and trying to keep their heads above water in the middle of the lake. They were in the water.

"HELP!" Crash screamed.

"SOMEONE SAVE US!" Eddie cried.

Without hesitation Shira started jumping from ice to ice and leaped into the water after the possums. She grabbed them by the tails and threw them onto a nearby floating piece of ice.

Shira then hauled herself onto another nearby piece of ice, but this one was isolated and drifting away from her friends.

"I CAN'T SWIM!" Shira shrieked.

Diego watched the scene in horror as she slowly floated away. He wanted to help her so bad but there was no way he could swim that far without drowning.

"Look! What is that?" Manny said, pointing to the giant purple creature circling Shira.

The creature then jumped right over Shira, which caused her to scream.

Manny gasped as his eyes widened; he recognised the creature. He remembered when another one of its kind tried to kill the herd before, when he first met Ellie.

Shira crouched and growled in the direction of the creature, who had now stopped and glared at her.

"SHIRA, NO!" Diego screamed. It was too late.

Shira pounced onto the creature scratching it.

She took a deep breath before plunging into the icy water.

Without thinking Diego jumped in after her.

The herd watched in silence, hoping that their friends would be the ones that come out alive.

**Will Diego get to Shira in time? Will it be too late for both of them? Keep checking my story for updates and please keep on reviewing and reading!**


	8. Chapter 8:Too Much Danger

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters.**

Chapter 8:Too Much Danger

Everything suddenly became clear. He could see the creature dragging Shira down, further and further, to the bottom.

Diego swam down to her as fast as he could. Shira was constantly trying to harm the creature, but to no avail. It had her leg in its mouth.

The creature let go of Shira's leg, and swam off. She felt relieved.

Just then, the creature came swimming back at a rapid pace, readying itself to deliver the final blow to its helpless prey.

Shira closed her eyes to brace herself, but the knock-back never came. After a couple of seconds she opened her eyes to see Diego unconscious. He took the blow for her. While the creature was distracted, Shira slashed its neck killing it.

As best she could, Shira swam to Diego, and swam up to the surface, using all of her might.

Once she got their heads above the water, Manny and Ellie dragged both of the sabers out of the ice cold lake.

Manny placed Diego onto the ground, and Ellie stood Shira up, but all she did was lay down near Diego.

Suddenly Diego coughed and spluttered and opened his eyes to see Shira laying down next to him, breathing heavily, her fur drenched.

"Are you OK?" He asked her, concerned. Shira stared at him, wide eyed.

"Am I OK? You're the one that nearly got killed!" She exclaimed.

"So were you." Diego reminded her.

"Thank you, for taking the blow for me. You saved my life" Shira said.

"Thank you for saving my life." Diego replied.

"Of course…" Shira started, her voice going soft, "You nearly got killed because of me." She was now looking at the ground.

"How was it your fault?" Diego whispered.

"Have you seen your injuries?" Shira said.

"I'm fine Shira, really." Diego said.

"No you're not." She replied, standing up. She sighed sadly.

"I can't stay with you any longer. All I've done since I joined is put everyone in danger, and I have only been here a couple of days."

"Don't leave." Crash pleaded.

"Yeah, it was all just bad luck." Ellie said.

"Bad luck caused by me and my wretched fur. My dad was right; I am a cursed monster." She answered. Without waiting for an answer, Shira ran off as fast as her legs could take her.

Diego looked in shock and stood up to go after her, but Manny held him back. He thrashed about and struggled.

"LET ME GO!" Diego roared, clearly pissed off.

"You are too injured to go after her alone, let alone run to find her." Manny said calmly, still holding him.

"That's right. We are all going to go after her. She is part of our herd, part of our family, and we can't just let her go, not like this." Ellie announced. Diego calmed down, Crash and Eddie cheered and Peaches jumped up and down excitedly. Sid was chewing on a twig, but he agreed, as did Manny.

The herd then set off to find their friend.

_(…)_

Shira was still running, tears streaming down her face._ I can't go back. However much I want to, I can't. I will just put them in even more danger; they don't deserve it._

**I apologize for making this chapter so short, but I have been busy lately and haven't had enough time to write this. Read and Review! **

**P.S: I know that the chapter title is crap, but it was the best I could think of!**


	9. Chapter 9:PerfectAlmost

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters.**

Chapter 9:Perfect….Almost

Shira had no idea where she was. She was tired. She had been running for hours. She decided to lie down where she was to catch her breath.

Everything was silent until….

"Can't we hunt them now?"

"No, we have to plan our attack."

"Oh come on!"

"Yeah, we are starving!"

_Sabers._ Shira got up and crawled closer to where the pack was. She gulped. There were about 7 of them altogether.

"We have to plan, Ben. The possums, sloth and mammoth calf will be easy. But the mammoths are strong. And there is the other lone sabre-tooth. And her." Shira assumed that it was the alpha speaking.

"Yes, her. The white tigress, known as Shira." Another one of the pack members said.

Shira's heart stopped.

_How did they know my name?_ She thought. _It doesn't matter for now; I have to warn the others._ She then slowly slinked away unnoticed.

When she was far enough away, Shira started sprinting off to find the others.

_(Back with the rest of the herd)_

The herd hadn't given up on the tigress; they were still searching for her. Diego was far in front, but still in view. Just.

He looked around. Nothing. He decided to slow down and let the others catch up.

When Ellie was walking next to Diego, he started to worry.

"What if we don't find her?"

"What if something's happened to her?" Diego was panicking now.

Ellie looked at the distraught tiger and sympathetically placed her trunk on his shoulder.

"We will find her, don't worry." Ellie promised, although she was quite unsure herself.

Crash and Eddie were on top of Ellie's head, looking around for any signs of Shira.

"What is that?"

"Is what?"

"That." Eddie pointed to a faint paw-print in the dust.

"Oh." Crash replied. The possums jumped of Ellie to look at the print.

"Hey, Diego. Check this out." Eddie called. Diego walked over to look at what they had found. He gasped.

"They are saber paw-prints!" Diego confirmed, trying not to lose his 'cool'.

"What if they are not Shira's?" Manny worried.

"If there is any hope that Shira made them…" Diego started.

"We are following the footprints." Ellie declared.

Manny sighed. He knew that there was no point in starting an argument; Ellie always won theirs anyway.

Ellie was already walking with Diego, the others following close behind. Manny ran to catch up.

_(Back with Shira)_

Shira ran back through the forest, desperate to find the others.

She then slowed down as she spotted two large figures. Mammoth figures. One was red, the other one dark brown.

"Manny. Ellie" Shira whispered, before running in the direction of the figures. She was almost positive it was them.

As she got nearer she confirmed it was them. She saw Diego and pounced on him, pinning the saber to the ground.

Diego growled at Shira, but smiled as he recognised her. Shira smiled back, but her face soon turned to a worried, frightened look.

She let Diego stand up as she walked towards the mammoths.

"Sabers." She started, catching her breath. Ellie looked at her concerned.

"Sabers? Where? What's going on?" Manny panicked.

"There is a pack of about 7 sabers and they are planning on hunting you. All of you." Shira replied. Everyone stared at her in shock.

"We have to get out of the forest now!" Shira shouted.

Just as they were about to walk away a saber jumped in front of Shira, who went straight into defence mode, her teeth baring at the strange saber. She growled a warning to him.

Ellie picked up Peaches with her trunk and held her close, while Crash and Eddie raced onto her back.

Manny grabbed Sid and placed the sloth onto his back.

The saber took a step forward. In an instant Diego ran and stood between Shira and the intruder.

The saber had a very muscular build; he had a chestnut coloured fur with a white underbelly, and penetrating brown eyes. He had a long tail, like Shira's.

"Well well." The male said, his voice deep. Shira froze, then jumped in front of Diego. She knew who he was.

"Shira. I thought you were dead for all these years. What a shame you're not." He spoke.

"Do you know him?" Diego hissed to Shira. She didn't reply.

Shira growled.

"Well, I'm not; deal with it." Her voice was sharp and stubborn.

"Ever since you 'left' the pack, everyone thought that you were dead. We might as well keep it that way, shouldn't we?" The male replied as he walked closer and closer to Shira.

"No we should not. I won't let you." Shira growled. The saber was face to face with her now. With his paw, he gently grabbed Shira's chin and pushed it up so that she was staring into his cold eyes.

"I am your father; you will do as I say!" He whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear. Diego gasped, and thought back to the time asked her what happened, and she was so withdrawn.

_It was him that did all of this to her. The basterd!_ He thought. Diego's eyes started blazing with anger as he attacked Darren. All he did was push Diego away.

He was about to attack Darren again when Shira walked in front of him.

"This is my fight." Shira simply said before turning back to her so called 'father'.

Shira and Darren then started circling each other snarling.

Darren made the first move by pouncing onto the saberess. Diego crouched, ready to help when the 6 other pack members jumped out of the bushes. Manny and Diego started fighting them all off, when they all heard Darren speak.

"Leave this, bunch of misfits alone, we will hunt elsewhere. Just make sure they can't help Shira. I want them to watch her die!" He had pinned Shira to the ground as he spoke.

When he finished, Shira kicked him in the stomach as hard as she could. Darren yelped in pain.

He roared then slashed one of her legs, which caused her to wince a bit. Taking the opportunity, Shira leaped onto Darren's back and bit down, sinking her sabers into his body. He thrashed about, but she had now dug all of her claws into his sides, holding her firmly onto the saber.

Darren ran and bashed her into a tree. Shira fell off, but stood straight back up, pounced onto him, pinning him to the ground and wrapped her paw around his throat. Darren coughed. Shira leaned closer to him, pushing harder and harder onto his neck.

"Leave; before I kill you!" She hissed menacingly into his ear.

Shira then jumped off of him and he ran away.

"RETREAT!" He shouted. The rest of the sabers looked at each other but ran off shortly after.

Shira stood still, staring in the direction the sabers ran off in.

She then walked and kicked a small rock in frustration, then gently head-butted a tree, letting her forehead rest on it.

Diego was worried about her so he walked up to Shira.

"Are you alright?" He asked her stupidly. Diego knew something was wrong.

"Yes, I'm fine." She replied blankly, closing her eyes. Shira took a deep breath.

"You should all be safe for now. Bye." Shira started to slowly walk off.

Everyone was about to plead her to stay with them, but they saw Diego walking up to her, so they all shut up and moved away so that the two could speak alone.

"Wait." Diego called. Shira froze where she was standing.

He took a deep breath.

"Don't leave. Please. Everyone will miss you. But I will the most. You are the most wonderful, intelligent, kind, caring animal I have ever known, and I don't want 2 lose you. You are beautiful, Shira, you are not a monster. Please, please don't leave. We need you. I need you." Tears were filling his eyes as he spoke.

Shira turned around to face him. There were tears in her eyes too.

"Do you really think that of me?" She whispered, still shocked that Diego had even said the words he did.

"Yes, I do." He replied, and nuzzled her. Shira nuzzled him back.

"Shira?" Diego asked.

"Yes?"

"I…..I…" He started, when he heard a thud on the ground beneath a tree. A sloth was lying at the bottom dazed.

"SID!" Diego shouted, before roaring and chasing the screaming sloth. Shira laughed.

Ellie then came walking onto the scene and Sid ran and cowered behind her. Diego stopped and growled lowly at him. Sid gulped.

Ellie rolled her eyes. She them turned to Shira.

"So...Umm… are you still leaving?" Ellie said. Shira thought about it for a moment.

"Nope. I'm afraid you will have to put up with me for longer." She replied, winking. Ellie smiled.

Meanwhile Diego had lied down to rest.

_Sid will never stop teasing me. I hate him. He ruined it all. It was perfect.…almost._


	10. Chapter 10:Fallen

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters.**

Chapter 10:Fallen

After all the day's events, the herd decided to stop for the night.

Crash and Eddie were riding Peaches, who was more than happy to run around with her Uncles on her back. She was giggling as Eddie was telling her some jokes.

Manny and Ellie were snuggled up together, happily watching Peaches play.

Shira, however, was laying close by, staring into the fire.

Diego looked at her and walked over.

Shira could just make out her mother's face in the flames, when a voice distracted her.

"What's wrong?" Diego asked.

Shira was going to say that she was fine but she could tell by how Diego was speaking that he knew something was up. She huffed.

"I am pissed off because I didn't kill my father when I had the chance, and I probably won't get a chance like that again." Shira said.

"Oh." Diego replied.

Slowly, the saber moved over and lay down next to Shira, hoping that she wouldn't push him away.

Much to his shock, she snuggled up to him. When it sank in he mentally congratulated himself.

After a while they both fell asleep, Diego was resting his head on Shira's.

Ellie looked over to the two and grinned.

"How sweet." Ellie said. Manny looked at her confused.

She pointed over to the sabers and Manny smiled.

Soon the mammoths drifted off to sleep, Ellie cuddling Peaches lovingly.

(The next morning)

The first animal to wake up was surprisingly, Sid.

He stretched and got off his rock. He smirked at Diego, who was still snuggled up to Shira, then left to find some breakfast.

A little while later Peaches woke up crying. No one stirred, except from Shira.

She got up and quietly walked over to the mammoth calf, then hugged her.

"What's the matter babe?" She asked. Peaches sniffed.

"I hwad a nwightmware that the mwean saber cawme bwack and killwed you" she said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Don't worry." Shira soothed. "It will never happen; it was just a bad dream." Gently, she stroked the little mammoth's woolly fur.

"Are you hungry?" Shira asked.

"Ywes, but mwummy and dwaddy said thawt I cwan ownly gwo if thewy are awake." Peaches replied sadly.

"I'll look after you, and we won't go far." Shira reassured her.

Peaches nodded and the two headed off.

(30 minutes later)

Manny, Ellie, Diego and the possum brothers were still asleep where they were. The bushes then started rustling.

It was just Sid returning from his eating session. He looked around and saw that Peaches and Shira were missing, and, being who he is, started running around in circles screaming.

"PEACHES AND SHIRA ARE MISSING!"

Manny, Ellie and Diego jumped straight up. A look of concern spread across the three faces. Crash and Eddie were still fast asleep. No one disturbed them.

"Peaches will probably be with Shira." Ellie said, calming the boys down a little.

(With Peaches and Shira)

Elsewhere Peaches was scoffing her face with ripe berries and Shira was keeping an eye on the youngster whilst looking out for danger.

"Hurry up now." Shira called. Peaches turned around and nodded, finishing her last mouthful.

Shira heard a twig snap in the trees nearby so she instinctively spun around, arching her back. She relaxed when she realized it was only a badger. The badger glanced at her once before taking off. Shira shook her head smirking.

"Awntee Shira, cwome hwere!" Peaches exclaimed. Shira rolled her eyes before looking to see what the mammoth calf was so excited about.

She gasped. Peaches was jumping about on the edge of a cliff!

Shira ran over to her. She was quite far away as the saberess could only just make out the small mammoths figure.

When she got there Peaches had moved closer to the edge. Shira started slowly stepping forward.

"Come on Peaches, time to go." She said worriedly.

Suddenly the ground started to break where the Peaches was standing, and within seconds collapsed.

As Peaches was falling, Shira grabbed her tail and tried to lift her back up, but the rocks that she was standing on fell down, taking the saberess and mammoth with it...

(-)

Peaches and Shira were on the ruins at the bottom of the cliff. Amazingly Peaches was unharmed and only had a couple of light scratches.

Shira, however, had landed awkwardly, slightly twisting her back legs. Not exactly feline like.

As she stood up she let out a small yelp.

Peaches ran over to her and looked at Shira guiltily.

"Thwis iws all my fwault, I awm reallwy sorrwy Awntee Shira." She then burst into tears. Shira gave her a comforting hug, which made her stop crying.

"It wasn't your fault sweetie. Let's find a way to get back up to your mummy and daddy. OK?"

"OWK!" Peaches replied.

(Back with the rest of the herd)

Manny was stomping around impatiently, while Ellie was playing with her brothers.

"It has been ages; shouldn't we go out to look for them?" Manny said. It was the middle of the day now. And he was starting to worry about the whereabouts of Shira and his daughter.

"Fine." Ellie replied, rolling her eyes. It wasn't that she didn't care; it was just that Manny was over reacting again, and she knew that Peaches would be safe as she was with Shira.

Diego started to sniff around and caught the scent of Peaches.

They all then followed Diego, who was walking in the direction of the scent.

After about 10 minutes, everyone could hear a couple of voices calling for help.

Ellie soon realized who the voices belonged to and ran over to the edge of the cliff. She looked down to see Peaches and Shira at the bottom of the massive ditch.

Everyone then walked up to where Ellie was to see what mammoth was looking at. When they saw they all gasped.

Manny started panicking.

"SHIRA, PEACHES, UP HERE!" Ellie called. The two looked up at her.

"MUMMY!" Peaches screamed, jumping up and down. "AWNTEE SHIRA HWAS HWURT HWER LWEGS, AWND IWT'S AWLL MWY FWAULT!" She cried.

Diego stared down the steep cliff, wide-eyed, and he could just make out that Shira's back legs were slightly twisted. He looked at Ellie desperately.

"We have to get down there now!" The male saber said. Eddie started to clap.

"Well done, Einstein." Eddie said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Eddie, this is NOT the time." Ellie glared at him.

The small possum gulped and backed away slowly with a regretful look on his face.

"But, there is one problem." Ellie said.

"What is it?" Manny worried.

"How are we going to get down there?"

**Hi, this took forever! I hope you like it : )**


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters.**

Chapter 11:

He looked down, his heart pounding. Ellie was right. None of them could even attempt to climb down without ending up seriously injured.

He was willing to take that chance. For Peaches. For Shira.

In a blink of an eye he was jumping from rock to rock, trying to block out his friends frantically calling his name.

"DIEGO!" He heard Ellie scream. He carried on working his way down. He could no longer hear the herd's voices as he got closer and closer to the frightened mammoth calf and saber.

Suddenly he lost his footing and was sent tumbling down. When he got to the bottom he slowly stopped and blacked out.

_(…)_

Shira looked up to see Diego climbing down. She stared in awe and shock before snapping to her senses and calling his name.

She looked at Peaches who was terrified for her Uncle. Shira was as well, but hid it as best she could.

After what seemed like forever Peaches started screaming and Shira snapped her head back up to Diego.

She gasped as she saw him falling down. If wasn't far, only about 10 feet, but the rocks were jagged.

When the male saber landed she rushed right up to his side despite her injury. She growled in pain when she got to him.

"Diego?" She whispered. He just lay there, almost like he was lifeless, but was still breathing.

He didn't look injured, so Shira guessed that it was the shock that made him pass out and tried to wake him up.

"Diego?" She said a little louder now. Peaches walked up to her Uncle, worry flashing in her eyes, and nudged him. She jumped back when she heard Diego groan. Shira suppressed a laugh and nudged him softly in the face.

"Are you OK?" Shira asked. Diego grinned at her then turned to Peaches, who was crying.

"Yes, I'm fine, just a little dizzy." He replied standing up. Peaches ran up to him and hugged him, Diego returning the gesture.

"Awww how sweet!" Shira exclaimed. She tried to move forward but unexpectedly collapsed in pain. Diego ran up to her, concern written all over his face. Peaches just stood where she was, unable to move.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Diego asked, trying not to panic. He was failing.

Shira smiled weakly up at him before replying. "The part of the cliff we were standing on crumbled down and I twisted my legs whilst falling. Then a couple of small rocks landed of them. Thank god Peaches is OK. Manny would have had my head!" She chuckled slightly. "And I didn't want her to get hurt."

Diego gazed into her stunning blue eyes._ Even when she's hurt she's always thinking of others,_ Diego thought.

_(….)_

Ellie looked over the edge. She couldn't see the three.

"How are we going to get down there?" Manny asked frantically.

"By taking the stairs that have 'magically' appeared in front of you" Crash said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Manny glared at him. If looks could kill, Crash would be in a grave right then and there. Crash gulped.

"Stop messing around Crash!" Eddie said slapping him across the back of his head. He looked deadly serious which made Crash feel uneasy.

Sid looked around when he could just about see that the rock fall had created some sort of slope. By the looks of it the slope was a couple of miles away.

"Hey guys." Sid said. No one listened as they were all arguing.

"Guys…." He said a little louder. There was no reply.

"GUYS!" Sid shouted, now very agitated. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"What." Manny said sternly.

"Over there is a slope. It is a couple miles East." He pointed with his claw to where it was. "We can use that to get down."

"Wow Sid, you actually thought of something clever!" Crash sniggered. Eddie rolled his eyes and laughed.

Ellie came and thumped them both on the back of the heads.

"Don't be horrid!" Ellie scolded. She looked to Sid and smiled.

"Good spotting Sid. Come on, let's go." Ellie said as she was walking in the direction of the slope.

The rest just shrugged and followed.

_(With Diego, Shira and Peaches)_

Shira was still lying where she had collapsed earlier, with Peaches as company. Diego had gone off to see if he could find a way out of this canyon.

"Are you OK babe?" Shira asked the mammoth calf comforting her.

"Yes….well….no." She replied. Shira stared at her.

"Wow your speech has gotten much better." Shira said. "Anyways what's wrong?"

"If I was sensible and stayed away from the cliff edge we would never be here." Tears were welling up in Peaches eyes.

Shira tried to comfort the girl but still couldn't get up. Peaches saw this and, with her trunk, gently helped her up. Shira smiled and hugged her.

Just then Diego strolled casually back to the pair and smirked when he saw them cuddling.

"I've found a way out." Diego nearly exclaimed. Shira gave him a questioning look, but neither-the-less started filling with hope.

"Where?" she asked.

"I could just make out an opening. It is about 10 miles West." Diego replied.

Shira walked away from Peaches but didn't get far as she tripped over herself. She huffed in frustration.

Diego chuckled and walked over to help her up.

"Take it easy, OK?" He said in a half serious tone.

"I'll try, but it is going to be hard. Knowing me." She said smirking. Peaches giggle in the background.

"Let's go!" Peaches said excitedly and the three set off West.

Little did they know that the rest of the herd was walking the opposite way to them.

**A/N:- Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I've been very busy with family matters. I will try my best to update at least before the end of December!**


	12. Chapter 12:Peaches Plan

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters. This chapter is just short and sweet and my amazing BETA xLil' Suga Babyx came up with some of the ideas and edited it!**

Chapter 12:Peaches Plan

Peaches was walking slightly behind Diego and Shira, who were talking and laughing. She was bored out of her mind. What could I do that would be funny? She thought to herself with a thoughtful expression on her face.

She suddenly thought of something and smirked. Thats PERFECT! She told herself, trying not to laugh at the brilliant idea she just came up with.

"Uncle Diego?" She called. He stopped and looked at her.

"What's wrong? He asked, concerned.

"Nothing's wrong, I just need to talk to you." Peaches replied with a grin.

Shira shrugged to Diego as he walked over to Peaches.

As soon as he got over Peaches jumped right in there.

"Do you like Auntie Shira?" she said. Diego looked down in an attempt to hide him blushing but Peaches saw this and started to giggle.

"I take that as a yes?" She asked. Diego was silent a couple of minutes before he answered the young Mammoths question.

"Yes."

"I knew it!" Peaches shouted. Shira looked at the two with a raised eyebrow, and then continued walking.

"You could play a game with her to get closer to her." She said.

Diego looked thoughtful. "OK then, but what game?"

"Ummmmmmmm…" Peaches lightly chewed on her lip thinking. "I know! You could play tag with her!" she exclaimed excitingly.

Luckily Shira didn't hear her. Diego sighed.

"I guess it's worth a shot…" He said quietly. Peaches perked up even more and nudged him towards her.

"Go on then!" She squealed. Diego hesitantly and slowly moved forward.

When he was side to side with Shira he nudged her while shouting. "TAG!"

As Diego ran off Shira laughed and charged after him.

Shira's legs had healed a lot in the past hour, so the female Smilodon made no hesitation in running after Diego.

Peaches stood and watched from a safe distance, clearly amused.

Shira had caught Diego and he was it. As he was slowly catching up with her Shira, being her clumsy self, tripped over a pebble and went flying, Diego not far behind. They both kept on rolling over one another until they stopped.

Peaches gasped.

"UNCLE DIEGO! AUNTIE SHIRA!" She started to panic and ran over to them.

When she got close enough she stopped at what she saw and burst out laughing.

Shira had landed on her back and Diego had landed on top of her, their faces REALLY close together. They had not noticed the compromising position they were in until Peaches started singing while laughing her little head off.

"DIEGO AND SHIRA, SITTING IN A TREE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" She sang at the top of her lungs.

Diego and Shira finally realized what was going on and both blushed.

Poor Peaches as struggling to breathe as she was rolling around on the floor weezing with laughter.

The sabers gazed into each other's eyes, completely forgetting that Peaches was close by still laughing.

They slowly started leaning in closer…..

**HAHA cliff-hanger! You will have to keep checking for updates to see if they kiss or not!**


	13. Chapter 13:Emmy

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters. All credit for Emmy goes to xLil' Suga Babyx as she was the one to come up with her. Enjoy! **

**E/N: I'm back! I'm really happy that Emmy gets to be in this story! Oh and Merry Christmas everybody! See you guys soon, xLil' Suga Babyx signing off!**

Chapter 13:Emmy 

They were slowly leaning closer and closer. Nothing was stopping them. Shira then found Diego's soft lips on hers. She didn't pull away. The kiss was gentle and sweet. It meant nothing, yet everything at the exact same time.

After what seemed like forever, they pulled back, both grinning, at that moment Diego got up. The two sabers looked into each other's eyes until they finally got distracted by a certain young mammoth calf...

".GOD!" Peaches squealed.

She giggled, before adding "That was SOOOO cute!"

When Diego and Shira finally realized that their niece was watching, they both blushed furiously.

Suddenly the trio heard very loud laughter. The three looked around in confusion, wondering who the voice belonged to.

"Who's there?" Shira asked. The voice fell silent. It suddenly started laughing again, catching everyone off guard.

Shira tracked down the noise until she came across a large boulder. 'Guess the animal is behind that' she thought to herself. Slowly and cautiously, she walked around the rock and gasped in surprise.

There, standing in front of her; was a mammoth calf. A female mammoth calf. She was about the same age as Peaches, but noticeably skinnier. She had sparkling blue eyes and light brown, mangled fur and chocolate colour hair, much like Peaches. The calf trembled and backed away.

"I'm sorry! I-I wasn't meant to laugh; i-it was c-cute! P-please don't e-eat m-me!" She whimpered. Shira felt her heart melt for the small mammoth. She smiled warmly at her.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you" She soothed.

"Where are your family?" The calf started sobbing silently.

"I d-don't know t-they l-left me." She whispered sadly. Shira slowly walked up to the young calf and hugged her. The mammoth calf was a bit tense at first but eventually loosened up.

"What's your name?" Shira asked.

"Emmy." She replied.

"OK Emmy, come with me." The calf nodded and followed her out into the clearing. Emmy shrieked when she saw Diego, but Shira calmed her down.

"We won't hurt you." She said. "I promise." Emmy nodded and smiled slightly.

She looked to see another mammoth calf next to Diego and nearly jumped for joy at what she saw.

"Yay another mammoth calf!" She exclaimed. Peaches smiled and raced to her.

"Hi, I'm Peaches! Whats your name?"

"My name is Emmy."

"That's a cute name!"

"Yours is too!" The youngsters were chatting and giggling while Diego and Shira were watching from a short distance away. Peaches really cheered Emmy up for some reason.

"So, where's her family?" Diego asked. Shira looked down sadly.

"They left her. Poor little girl." She replied. Diego saw that she was slightly upset and nuzzled her.

"Why doesn't she come with us? I'm sure the rest of the herd won't mind."

"Yeah, let's go and ask her." Shira said, already walking in the direction of the two calves.

Peaches and Emmy were still happily talking when Shira came up to them. The three exchanged smiles until Shira spoke up.

"Emmy. If you want you can join us." She said while smiling. Peaches started to jump up and down excitedly.

"Please say yes Emmy please say yes!" She chirped. Shira chuckled and shook her head.

"Sure!" Emmy piped up. Peaches squealed and hugged her. Emmy returned the gesture.

"I'm glad you agreed to join us." Shira smiled.

Diego looked at the three, and, judging by the way they acted, Emmy had said yes. He looked up to see that it was getting dark, and with two young mammoth calves it would be dangerous to travel at night. He scanned the area and found a cave embedded into the cliff face.

"Shira, Peaches, Emmy!" He shouted. They all turned and walked towards him.

"What?" Peaches asked.

"It's getting late and I've found a cave that we can rest in."

"But I'm not tired!" Peaches pouted. Emmy nodded her head in agreement.

As if on cue, the two yawned very loudly. Diego laughed.

"Sure you're not." He said sarcastically.

With the help of Shira he eventually got the two into the cave for the night. Once they were asleep Diego laid down at the entrance of the cave, only to have Shira come and snuggle up with him, but he didn't mind. And with that they peacefully drifted to sleep...

**Thank you all for reading this story, I am truly grateful since it now has over 6000 views! Don't forget to review!**


	14. Chapter 14:Morning Comes

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters. All credit for Emmy goes to xLil' Suga Babyx as she was the one to come up with her. Also life has been a **, so I apologize for not updating this story in a while. Enjoy!**

**Editors note: It's been forever since the last chapter was up :D Well I'm happy to be back, and I hope you like the chapter! Well, syonara ;)**

Chapter 14:-Morning comes

Shira woke up with a start. And she was only just beginning to think that the nightmares had gone. She didn't think that she could be so wrong.

She stood up and shivered slightly, feeling the morning breeze wisp across her agile body. As Shira looked outside she had to squint her eyes because it was so bright outside.

She then heard a yawn. Half expecting it to be Diego, she turned around, only to see Emmy standing up in behind her.

Shira smiled and whispered "Hi Emmy. Did you sleep OK?"

"Yeah, I slept fine!" Emmy replied in a quiet voice. She was also smiling.

Emmy silently slipped past Peaches and Diego and went over to Shira, who was now outside.

Shira was deeply in thought when Emmy came up to her. The mammoth calf gently nudged Shira and she snapped back to reality. She looked at Emmy, who was staring back at her with concern filled eyes.

"Are you OK?" She asked while tilting her head to the right a little. Shira simply nodded and licked Emmy's forehead in affection, which caused her to giggle.

"Let's go and have a look around and leave sleepy heads alone." Shira said gesturing to Diego and Peaches, who were still sleeping. Emmy smirked and the two set off.

_(With the others)_

It had nearly been a whole day. A whole day since Manny had last seen his precious daughter and his best friend. He had already lost one child, and he certainly did not want to lose another one.

Manny had just woken up from his stressed out sleep. He stood up and saw that he was the only one awake. He was just about to wake them up when he saw that Ellie was sleeping peacefully. This warmed Manny's heart. Ellie was no way near as freaked out as he was, but she was still worried and scared about it though.

The bull mammoth decided to leave Sid, Crash and Eddie to there slumber as well. The main reason being that they were so loud and would have definitely woken up Ellie.

He walked out of the cave that they had found the night before, and started searching for Peaches, Diego and Shira.

_(10 minutes after Manny left...)_

Crash yawned and stretched out his arms, accidently punching Eddie in the process. Eddie yelped with shock and growled at his brother.

"Why did you punch me?" He said, frowning.

"I didn't. I was stretching and you happened to be in the way." Crash replied, snickering.

Eddie let out a war cry and charged at Crash. The possums started to wrestle and somehow forgot that they were actually on a ledge in the cave.

That is, until they rolled over and fell.

Luckily they landed on something soft. Crash and Eddie cheered, before suddenly realizing who they landed on.

Sid groaned and opened his eyes. Crash and Eddie were standing on him, cheering their heads off.

"Hey!" Sid exclaimed. The possum brothers jumped and looked at him. Sid smirked at how he had scared them. The smirk soon disappeared as he went on to a frown.

"Why did you jump on me? I was sleeping!" He exclaimed. Crash and Eddie quickly pointed to one another.

"It was his fault!" They exclaimed at the same time. Sid just rolled his eyes and pushed them off.

He was just about to fall back asleep when he realized that Peaches, Diego and Shira were still missing. The sloth jumped up and ran over to Ellie. With his claws he grabbed her tusks and started shaking them.

"Wake up!" He yelled. Ellie's eyes snapped open as she glared at Sid.

"You could have been gentler." She mumbled. Sid rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Sorry Ellie. Should we go look for the others now that you are awake?" He asked. Ellie nodded but made no move in getting up.

Manny has unfortunately walked in when Sid was yelling at Ellie to get up. He smacked his forehead with his trunk and sighed.

"Come on, let's go!" Manny announced. Crash and Eddie jumped onto Ellie's back as she stood up and Sid waddled up next to Manny.

The larger part of the split herd then started walking.

_(With the others sometime after Shira and Emmy walked off.)_

Peaches was slowly waking up. Still feeling drowsy, she attempted to stand up but fell back down. Her eyes scanned where her friends were and they widened when she realised that Shira and Emmy were gone.

Drowsiness suddenly wearing off, she shot up and sprinted out of the cave. She looked around frantically, but only saw rocks. Peaches turned to Diego, who was still sleeping behind her.

"Uncle Diego?" She whispered, prodding him with her trunk. Diego just moaned and turned away from her. Peaches then did the only other thing she could. She took a deep breath. And screamed.

"UNCLE DIEGO WAKE UP AUNTIE SHIRA AND EMMY ARE MISSING!"

**That's chapter 14 completed! If THAT doesn't wake Diego up, I fear he's dead xD Anyways please R&R!**


	15. Chapter 15:Lost

**Authors note: - I do not own any of these characters. All credit for Emmy goes to xLil' Suga Babyx as she was the one to come up with her. Enjoy!**

**Editors Note: Gaaaaaah! I'm sorry I took so long! I was looking at the reviews and I saw that people actually like Emmy! I'm really glad you all like Her! :)**

**I've just realised that I tend to use a lot of explanation marks in my writing... Oh well!**

Chapter 15:Lost

"UNCLE DIEGO WAKE UP AUNTIE SHIRA AND EMMY ARE MISSING!"

I jumped up, my eyes wide as a result of the statement that I just heard. Did I hear right? Was Peaches lying?

By looking at her face for half a second, I knew she wasn't. I ran out of the cave and scanned the area.

Nothing.

I was slowly growing frantic.

"Come on Peaches, let's look for them." I exclaimed. She nodded her head and we raced off. At that moment, I had just one thought on my mind.

I hope that Shira is alright...

(Shira's POV)

Crap. It's been an hour; the others must be awake by now. But where were me and Emmy?

We were lost.

Somehow we had trekked too far and found a way to exit the rocky ditch; we decided to take it and that lead us to a forest. Now we were lost.

And to make things better, I could smell other sabers.

Emmy was scared and now trembling. I was just ** off at myself for going too far and possibly getting poor helpless Emmy into trouble.

Suddenly there was a rustle in the bushes. Emmy jumped slightly and I narrowed my eyes to see if anything was there. But it was nothing. We carried on walking in aimless directions, hoping to eventually get out and go back to Diego and Peaches.

_(Sid's POV)_

"My legs hurt!" I wailed for the thousandth time. Manny glared at me.

"Shut up Sid before I pummel you." He threatened, waving his trunk in the air to prove that he would. I gulped and stopped whining.

I saw a couple of figures in the distance and squinted my eyes. There was a mammoth calf and a saber. Could it be?

The others must have noticed me staring as they looked ahead and their jaws dropped.

"PEACHES?" Ellie screamed. I winced and had to cover my ears from the sudden noise. The calf looked at us and when the two figures came bounding towards us, I knew it was them.

"DIEGO!" Crash and Eddie shouted, fist bumping each other.

When they got to us Peaches bounded up to Manny and Ellie and they all hugged tight. I blocked out what they were saying and focused on Diego.

He had lacked behind and had a worried look plastered onto his face. It then clicked.

"Where's Shira?" I asked him. Everyone shut up and turned to Diego. He looked down.

"I don't know." He said, his voice wavering slightly. Peaches then burst into tears.

"Auntie Shira and Emmy disappeared and we are looking for them but we can't find them!" She cried.

"Emmy? Who's Emmy?" I thought to myself.

"Who's Emmy?" Crash asked Diego.

"Emmy is a mammoth calf we found when searching for a way out of this." Diego replied. Ellie didn't hesitate for a second.

"Then let's go and find them!" She practically ordered.

And with that, we all set off to find the two.

_(Shira's POV)_

We were becoming increasingly desperate. We were still stuck in this endless forest. The bushes were always rustling now; it's as almost if someone is following us. Emmy was so scared she was silent.

I would do anything to protect her. Even sacrifice my life if it had to come to that.

I heard a twig snap. I turned around and stood in front of Emmy, growling warningly. Out of the bush, came a saber.

Oh god, not him.

"Hello my dear Shira." My waste of space, so called father hissed. I bared my teeth.

Just then more sabers walked out and has us surrounded. Before I could react, Emmy let out a blood curling scream.

I knew I couldn't defeat them all, but I had to try, for Emmy. They were all slowly closing in on us.

I roared as loud as I could manage.

_(Diego's POV)_

A scream, that was all I heard. A blood curling scream. For one mad moment I thought it was Shira but quickly realized that it was Emmy.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That scream!"

"That was Emmy screaming!" Peaches sobbed, staying close to Ellie.

We then heard a threatening roar. It was Shira that roared! She must be in danger!

"Let's move!" I shouted, sprinting towards the voice. The others were following behind.

I just hope that we aren't too late...

**Chapter 15 complete! The good news is that I will make a sequel, but the bad news is that there is only one more chapter until the story is finished! Please R&R!**


	16. Chapter 16:Expect the Unexpected

**Authors note: - This is it! The final chapter for Ice Age:Broken Hearts! I apologise if it's short.**

**Editors Note: Last chapter people! I'm really glad that I was able to beta this :) Thank to everybody for reading and see you guys soon!**

**I do not own any of these characters. All credit for Emmy goes to xLil' Suga Babyx as she was the one to come up with her. Enjoy!**

Chapter 16:Expect the Unexpected

_(Diego's POV)_

I ran.

Ran into the forest.

The endless forest.

For her.

She could be dead. If she was I would never forgive myself.

I wouldn't see her beautiful smile anymore, hear her laugh, gaze into those piercing blue eyes that we're so full of life.

And I haven't even had the courage to tell her I loved her. And now it might be too late.

I winced at the sudden loud noise. The same ear piercing scream from earlier. It was Emmy! And this meant that I was getting closer!

I sprinted into the sounds direction and soon found myself gaping at the scene before me.

Shira and Darren were in the middle of a death brawl while the others were surrounding Emmy, who was trembling with fear.

Snarling, I pounced onto an unknown saber and took him down with ease. Just then Manny and the others, except from Peaches, rushed in to fight off the other 10 sabers.

The battle was fierce, and I had gained multiple cuts and bruises. But I wasn't going to give up.

Not now. Not ever.

"Diego! Go help Shira!" Manny exclaimed, knocking a saber away with his tusks. I looked over to see Shira pouncing onto Darren's back as he let out a yelp of pain. "We can handle the rest, go now!"

I nodded and hurried over to help the now losing saberess.

The one I loved...

_(Shira's POV)_

I dug my claws into his side, and pulled them along, leaving a massive scrape. He then suddenly tackled me and pinned me down. I was heavily injured, and so was he, but I thin we both knew that this fight was far from over.

I wanted him dead.

He sank his teeth into my neck and I growled in pain before kicking his gut with my back legs, sending him flying.

I ran over to him and jumped onto his back clamping my sharp teeth onto his neck. After a few seconds he shook me off and swiped a blow at my face.

I could feel the blood running down my white fur, but I ignored it and snarled at my opponent. He ran towards me and I dodged and knocked him into a nearby bolder.

He sank to the floor, but after a couple of seconds slowly got up. Unfortunately I was too close as he crushed my front paw with his teeth.

I screamed out in pain and swiped at his face, effectively leaving three long gashes across it. I smirked and seized him again.

We were rolling around for some time now, still attacking each other like mad.

But my energy was slowly draining, and, by the looks of it, so was my father's.

"Give up you waste of fur." I hissed, narrowing my eyes at the saber I had pinned. He snorted.

"Why should I?" He retorted, slashing my side. I gritted my teeth in an attempt to muffle my screaming.

"Shira!" I heard someone yell. I turned away for a split second to see who the voice belonged to.

It was Diego.

Before I had time to think I felt my paws lift off the ground as I collided with a tree head first. I slumped to the ground.

I couldn't move. This was it, I was going to die.

Diego rushed up to me.

"Shira? Are you ok?" He asked, but his eyes filled with tears as he looked over my heavily damaged body.

"No." I weakly whispered. A tear spilled down Diego's cheek as he leaned towards me.

"Shira, I-I l-love you." He whispered. My heart stopped.

He loved me?

"I love you too, you big kitten." I croaked, trying my ultimate hardest to smirk. His eyes visibly lit up as he smiled fondly at me.

"Don't worry Shira, you will be alright." Diego soothed.

Before I could do anything, that beast knocked him away. My eyes widened.

"Diego!" I tried my best to shout, but pain stopped me from doing so.

My dad stood above me, he picked me up.

He leaned to my ear and whispered.

"Goodbye, Shira." Before smashing my head against a rock.

I felt unbearable pain as I blacked out...

_(Diego's POV)_

I stood up just in time to witness what Darren had just done to Shira.

Grief and rage bubbled up inside me as I blindly attacked him, pure hatred gleaming in my eyes.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop. Until someone pulled me away.

"Diego!" Manny shouted. I was too angry to hear him.

"Diego! Stop! You killed him! He's dead!" He yelled louder. After a while, I finally calmed down.

I scowled at the corpse.

Yes, he's dead.

"SHIRA!" Ellie screeched I instantly snapped my head to my love and sprinted to her side.

I squinted my eyes to see that she was unconscious. Shira was breathing.

Barely.

It was a horrific sight, the state she was in.

Her poor body was mangled; her once white fur was a deep shade of crimson. She looked and seemed lifeless; the only thing indicating that she was still alive was her slow, shallow breathing.

Uncontrollable tears leaked from my eyes as I nuzzled her face. Nothing.

"Shira, please come back to me. I love you." I whispered, my voice catching in my throat.

I had only just told her. I couldn't lose her now. That would be so unfair.

I started begging for her to wake up, continually nudging her body. I kept on doing this for an hour.

By then I knew it was too late. My whole body went numb. My beautiful Shira, dead? It just wouldn't sink in. I refused to believe it, until Ellie walked over to her.

"Shira, I will miss you." She sobbed, surprisingly cradling Emmy. She was bawling her eyes out.

"Please don't leave us." Emmy cried, tears running down her face. Her once sparkling Blue eyes were now filled with tears. Shira was like a big sister to her and now she was gone.

Ellie hugged her closer. Manny came over next. He was cuddling Peaches. Poor calf looked even more distraught than Emmy. She looked like she wanted to speak, but she just couldn't.

"Thank you for keeping Peaches safe. You will never be forgotten." Manny said softly, his own face showing multiple signs of sadness.

Sid came up, his eyes red from crying, and patted Shira's head.

"You were a good friend." He sobbed. The sloth took a step back to let the possum brothers pay their respects.

"Bye, our gorgeous saber." They both said at the same time, before crying into each other's arms.

I would have growled if Shira had still been alive. I slowly walked back up to her and kissed her forehead.

"I w-will nev-ver fo-orget y-you, m-my a-angel." I stuttered and collapsed in tears. It was too much for me to bear.

I heard the other walk off to leave me in piece as I snuggled up against her fragile body and cried.

After a while, I got up and took one last look at my fallen love before walking away.

As I took a couple of steps away, I heard a faint groan from behind me. I spun around as fast as I could and saw Shira slowly opening her eyes.

"Oh my god Shira, you're ok!" I exclaimed, jumping for joy. I had never felt so relieved and happy in my life.

I ran towards her, and she gave me a quizzical look.

I went to nuzzle her but she growled. I moved back quickly confused.

What had I done wrong?

Shira slowly stood up and gave me a look. She then asked a question that crushed me to my core.

"Who are you?" My heart stopped. She didn't remember me? I wanted to cry, but I held it back.

"I-I'm Diego, remember?" I replied, hope spiking my voice. She shook her head.

"Nope, never met a Diego before in my life." Shira said. I felt my heart slowly and painfully tear apart.

She looked behind me and gasped, slowly backing away. I walked towards her confused but she growled.

"Y-you killed my family!" Shira shouted. Before I could reply, she sprinted off. I knew there was no point in catching her, so I lied down, despair drowning me.

The others chose that time to rush back. They noticed that Shira's body was gone and their jaws dropped.

"Where's Shira?" Ellie asked, disbelief ridden in her voice. I stood up and turned to face them. They gasped when they saw how saddened I looked and was.

"S-she d-doesn't k-know w-who w-we a-are." I stuttered, tears falling down my face. The whole herds' eyes widened.

"You mean…. she's lost her memory and ran off?" Crash asked. I nodded sadly.

She was gone.

My beautiful saber was gone.

And I would never see her again.

_(Third person)_

Shira just ran, and didn't stop. She had just seen her family's corpses.

She just kept on running, completely unaware of all the broken hearts that she left behind….

**Well, that's it for Broken Hearts!**

**I would like to thank the following for adding this story to their favourites list:**

**AquilaTempestas, carlal68 , CarminaxBuranax, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, cutelittlekitten18, day dreamer xo15, depressed lioness, ElleJTriX, GuitarGirl5000, gydragonwing, Ice and Fire dragon, IceSparrow24, kali yugah, KaylaDestroyer, kitkat342, Leopard The Warrior Of Africa, mittensx7768, MonkeysGoBoo, nicsav, Phoenix NightStar, ponzi382, PyroGrl94, RatchetsGirl, Sithlord8665, sportcrazy28, That-Rotten-Acorn, Tombraider97, Twilightluva129 and finally my amazing BETA xLil' Suga Babyx.**

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**BrightShadowWalker, CarminaxBuranax, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, cutelittlekitten18, Day-Of-The-Dead-TattooGal, depressed lioness, ElleJTriX, ivycake101, missalyssap, mittensx7768, PyroGrl94, Witchgirl590 and last but not least YankeeRose908!**

**Please R&R and look out for a sequel! :D**


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